By Marc Perelman

After several years of mounting criticisms and increasingly harsh condemnations, American Jewish groups are rushing to praise European governments for their efforts to combat antisemitism and strike a more “balanced” approach to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.In the wake of a high-level parley in Brussels last week to deal withRead More

By Shaul Bakhash

Only a few years ago Iran appeared to be on the cusp of fundamental democratic transformation. The 1997 landslide victory of President Mohammad Khatami had ushered in an era of expanding social freedoms and increasingly open political debate. Then, in 2000, a coalition of reformist parties won a working majority in parliamentary elections,Read More

Now that Mel Gibson’s “The Passion of the Christ” is actually playing in theaters (it opened Wednesday), Americans have the luxury of seeing the film before arguing about it. Perhaps the harshest newspaper review so far of the cinematic depiction of the final 12 hours of Jesus’ life came from Jami Bernard in the NewRead More

By Eric J. Greenberg

Mel Gibson’s “The Passion of the Christ” is set to open in Brazil early next month — and Rabbi Henry Sobel is worried.Sobel, the religious leader of Brazil’s Congregacao Israelita Paulista, the largest synagogue in Latin America, fears that the film about Jesus’ death will inflame antisemitism in his country, where 95% of the 170Read More

Quebec Nixes SpeakerA civil servant in the Quebec government has been blocked from participating in a lecture series on Montreal Jewry, after his supervisors discovered that it includes a discussion of fascism and antisemitism in Quebec during the 1930s, according to one organizer of the program.The series on Montreal Jewry, to be held in New YorkRead More

Harry Louis Selden, a newspaperman at the forefront of the rescue of European Jews during the Holocaust, died February 14 in Rockville, Md., after a short illness. He was 96.A reporter for the Long Island Daily Press and an associate editor at Newsweek during the early 1930s, Selden came to support the establishment of a Jewish homeland,Read More

By Elli Wohlgelernter

JERUSALEM — Malcolm Hoenlein is accustomed to being updated by Israeli officials about “the situation,” but he has never been as close to it as he was this week.Hoenlein, head of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, personally witnessed his first suicide bombing up close, and was visibly shaken describing itRead More

By Ori Nir

WASHINGTON — Faced with a deadlocked Israeli-Palestinian peace process and international pressure to demonstrate a commitment to resolving the conflict, the Bush administration is hoping to generate momentum — or at least the appearance of progress — with Israel’s unilateral separation initiative.“Instead of [the unilateral initiative]Read More

If Israel unilaterally withdraws from the Gaza Strip as Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has suggested, no governmental vacuum would be formed, Jibril Rajoub, Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat’s national security advisor, said Tuesday in an unusual briefing with Israeli reporters.“We have a plan to handle the territory,” RajoubRead More

By Nacha Cattan

Faced with lurid popular images like Janet Jackson’s Super Bowl striptease and the stark reality of sexually active adolescents, Orthodox girls would be expected to turn to rabbinic law for guidance. The problem, says Jewish educator Tova Hartman, is that in religious schools sexuality is either dealt with through an “oy vey” curriculum thatRead More

AIPAC is kicking off its conference under a cloud of controversy over Benjamin Netanyahu's planned speech.
As the meeting starts this morning, a fresh dispute raged over Shmuley Boteach's nasty attack ad aimed at White House security chief Susan Rice.

Of Rosanne Barr, King David Kalakaua and 9 other things about Jewish Hawaii

Yum. Deli Man is a mouthwatering journey to Jewish delis across the country, from New York to Houston - our review.

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